Hi, my name is Sostressedaboutthis! Help & advise about UC medical assessment plz 🙏

Sostressedaboutthis

Hi I’m new here and I’m just looking for some advise and a bit of a hand hold really 😞
I suffer from multiple health issues and ptsd anxiety & stress. In all I have had a lot of issues which brought in the ptsd and I had to close my business and apply for universal credit.
In between all this I was made homeless and have just been re-housed, this caused my forms to be late and Iv now got my medical assessment on the phone tomorrow.
i was told I’d get my call between 1-4pm however this morning I had a missed call from a nurse who said she’s calling about my benefit claim and she asked me to call back.
iv tried & tried and left a frantic message as I was worried maybe I’d been told the wrong day and I explained how concerned I was an anxious I was. I asked if she could please call back and let me know but I had no reply.

I have no idea why they would call the day before and I’m absolutely on my nerves right now and know I won’t sleep with worry.

has anybody experienced this before? Is it normal?  and can anybody tell me what it’s been like for them having the assessment?
unfortunately I have only bad stories to relate too like my aunt being put through hell by them during her interview and as a consequence she ended up on life support fighting for her life, she’ll never be the same again. Long story but it doesn’t give me alot of confidence and my head is all over the place right now.
any help is much appreciated thank you 🙏 

poppy123456

They very often ring the day before to remind you of your assessment, so it may have been regarding that. Of course i can only guess what they wanted.

I'd advise you to try ringing them again in the morning when they open at 9am. contact us on 0800 288 8777

https://chdauk.co.uk/about-us/contact-us/

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @Sostressedaboutthis Thank you for joining us, though I'm sorry it's not under better circumstances! 

Were you able to go ahead with your assessment this afternoon?

Sostressedaboutthis

Hi Tori
Thank you for your message, I did have my appointment yes and it was nothing like I expected however firstly &
Aside from this the nurse who left the messages for me from the DWP I still couldn’t get hold of and she phoned again yesterday? So it is worrying me why I have a random nurse calling me when I have actually had the appointment with someone else?

The lady doing my appointment had no knowledge of this other person or why I’d even be getting messages from her as I was always down to be interviewed by her, she said and nobody else. So she herself was puzzled who she is and doesn’t recognise the name either.

The call centre team did call that morning to check that I can still do the appointment but nobody seems to know this other nurse or why she’d be calling?

It’s so stressful as it is without your mind racing.
But the lady who did my appointment seemed really nice. 

Hopefully this may ease the minds of anybody else on here that is due to have their appointment 😊

The call only lasted just short of 30 min and I didn’t even get through all my conditions and there affects.
she said ,ok, I’ll ask you 1 more question and then we can leave it there? She said, because your bladder problems are so sever I won’t need to go into everything else and it will save you going over it all.

That was that 🤷‍♀️ I didn’t feel that there was any trick questions she just seemed very understanding and kind.

what do you think this means now?
is that the normal process? 

I certainly hope I read the situation right and I’m not going to be shocked by the report. But you just don’t know & it’s going to be a very long wait.

thanks for your help 😊

calcotti

Sostressedaboutthis said:

what do you think this means now?
is that the normal process? 

The experience differs from person to person. The assessor only needs to ask what they need to find out ignorer to help them write a report with a recommendation - what that involves depends on the circumstances of the claimant.

To be put in the Support Group you only have to meet any one of the LCWRA descriptors. 

(One of the descriptors involves lack of bladder control resulting in substantial leakage while conscious so she may have decided that she can recommend that you meet that descriptor and therefore she doesn't need to consider any others. However, that is speculation on my part.)

Sostressedaboutthis

Calcotti hi 👋 
thanks for your reply,
I get what you mean when you say each experience differs as Iv heard so many different views on it.
But pretty much I got the same impression that you did, when she said she’d got enough info due to the severity of my conditions.
i mean this is one of the issues I have and combined with everything else it makes for a pretty long day 😂

Im also a carer for my disabled son who has a really bad form of insulin dependent diabetes and autism so I was genuinely thinking 🤔 how would I even have the time or energy to consider going back to work even if I woke up feeling amazing tomorrow.

He's an adult now but it’s challenging with my own declining health.
I was shocked to also read that if you are put in the LCWRA you loose your carers allowance?
I am right aren’t i? That you can’t be classed as sick and caring for someone else who’s disabled?
I am genuinely disappointed with the dwp’s view on that or government rather because for some people like me you have no choice, and you have to just get on with it sick or not. So it’s pretty short sighted of the Gov to assume people can say right I will stop caring.
I don’t think you should be penalised for it, it seems you fight for the help go through all the distress of the long and drawn out process that is this sickness route to get to the end and find when  they give you help they then take it away again 🤷‍♀️

But yet couples who are in that situation can simply transfer the care from one partner to the other so they can benefit from both.
Have I understood that correctly?

many thanks
& apologies for the big moan 😂

poppy123456

Sostressedaboutthis said:

I was shocked to also read that if you are put in the LCWRA you loose your carers allowance?
I am right aren’t i? That you can’t be classed as sick and caring for someone else who’s disabled?
I am genuinely disappointed with the dwp’s view on that or government rather because for some people like me you have no choice, and you have to just get on with it sick or not. So it’s pretty short sighted of the Gov to assume people can say right I will stop caring.
I don’t think you should be penalised for it, it seems you fight for the help go through all the distress of the long and drawn out process that is this sickness route to get to the end and find when  they give you help they then take it away again 🤷‍♀️

No, you don't lose carers allowance but it's deducted in full from any UC entitlement anyway. What you do lose is the carers element because the LCWRA element can't be paid at the same time. Unfortunately, it's the law and it can't be changed.

Yes, if you're claiming UC with a partner and your partner cares for your son for at least 35 hours per week then they can claim carers element. You don't need to claim carers allowance to be entitled to carers element.

If you're not claiming with a partner and you're found to have LCWRA if there's any money owed then you will only receive the difference between carers element and LCWRA element.